A few Year End Lists

Best Art Books of 2019 according to the New York Times, here.

Hyperallergic's best art books of the year, here.

Derek Beaulieu's most engaging books of the year, here.

Cary Leibowitz | Happy Chanuka Ski Hat

Cary Leibowitz
Happy Chanuka Ski Hat
New York City, USA: Self-published, 2003
hand-knitted, wool ski hat
Edition of 144

Panamarenko | Eendebek - kleine magnus vlieger

Panamarenko
Eendebek - kleine magnus vlieger
Belgium: Self-published, 2002
40 x 55 x 41 cm.
Edition of 15 signed and numbered copies

Panamarenko died on Saturday December 14th. Read obituaries for the artist at Artforum here, ArtNews here and The Brussels Times, here.

Panamarenko | Vliegend Eiland

Panamarenko 

Vliegend Eiland

Belgium: Self-published, 2004

54 x 54 x 7.5 cm. 

Edition of 284 copies

Vliegend Eiland (or Flying Island) is a do-it-yourself sculpture model kit published to coincide with the exhibition ‘Te land, ter zee en in de lucht’ at the Flemish Parliament in 2004. The work originated at this scale and was later commissioned as a public artwork with a wingspan of 17 metres. 

Many of the artist's works were about aircrafts (including my favourite of the Stadtisches Museum boxed works) and his chosen moniker is short for Pan American Airlines Company. 

Panamarenko died Saturday, at the age of 79. 

Instagram

Hopefully daily posts will return in the new year, but in the interim, follow my instagram account, where about 80% of the content is art and about 80% of that content is artists' books and editions.

https://www.instagram.com/dave.dyment/

Ed Ruscha turns 82 today

Lawrence Weiner | Under Lime Trees

Lawrence Weiner
Unter den Linden—Under Lime Trees
Zurich, Switzerland: Parkett Editions, 1994
19.0 x 10.0 x 8.8 cm
Edition of 80 signed and numbered copies

Stamp, red ink pad in silkscreened cardboard box
Rubber stamp, with red ink pad in silkscreened card-board box printed by Lorenz Boegli, Zurich

“An influential conceptual artist, Lawrence Weiner is known for his language-based sculptures and works pursuing inquiries into language and a radical redefinition of the artist/viewer relationship … As in “Unter den Linden – Under Lime Trees”, the rubberstamp and image of the homonymous street in Berlin …, the value of his works exists in the idea itself, as expressed in words. Considering language to be a sculptural material and believing that a construction in language can function as sculpture as adequately as a fabricated object, Weiner's works operate beyond the specificity and constraints of traditional presentation.”

- Artsy

David Horvitz | watching you become the sunset

David Horvitz
watching you become the sunset
Paris, France: Yvon Lambert, 2016
10 cm (stamp)
Edition of 100 signed and numbered copies

Available from the publisher, here, for €150.00.

Daniel Eatock
Daniel Eatock: Pens Paper
Melbourne, Australia: Formist Editions, 2016
304 pp., 15 × 21.5 cm., hardcover
Edition of 1000


A Swiss-bound book with exposed stitching that features numerous images of Eatock's self-generating felt-tip marker works and an essay by Cranbrook Art Museum director Andrew Blauvelt.

"British artist and designer Daniel Eatock creates concept-driven pieces that explore the recording of actions. Over the past two decades, he has repurposed the conventional tools of graphic design – coloured felt-tip pens and white paper – to produce his most distinctive work.

Working compulsively in series, Eatock either rests inverted pens on stacks of paper or places paper on the nibs of upright pens, leaving time and chance to make their marks. Surprisingly, these straightforward, mechanical steps produce abstract, organic sequences that range from bright dots to bleeding pools of intense colour.

In a sense, this experimental work is self-producing. By devising set-ups that systematically make art, Eatock retains control over the execution, but relinquishes control of the outcome – faithfully observing his manifesto’s directives to “embrace chance” and “trust the process”. This action-based approach is also evident in his instruction of the participants who collaborated to create his circle drawings."

- press release

Sam Cotter | An End

Sam Cotter
An End
Toronto, Canada: Self-published, 2017
5 × 1.9 × 0.7 cm.
Open Edition

"A money clip bearing the small inscription “I too dream of an end to capitalism” — a signal of concurrence and a reminder of complicity."

– Sam Cotter

Available at Art Metropole, here, for $25.00 CDN. 

50th Anniversary concert of Gavin Bryars' Sinking of the Titanic today

When asked by the Power Plant a few years ago to write about a work that had a profound influence on my practice, I just chose The Sinking of the Titanic, by Gavin Bryars. It's a work that involves rigorous research, is rich in narrative and larger implications and, on top of that, is highly functional. It's a gorgeous piece of music. It began as a conceptual score published in a magazine (which I'd love to find a copy of, but I don't think even Bryars himself has one). Then it was released on Brian Eno's Obscure label (backed with the almost-as-brilliant Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet). Both tracks have been extended and released as solo CDs.  I think I own five different versions now. 

The work celebrates it's fiftieth anniversary tonight. 

Art-Rite Facsimile Reprint Launch on Tuesday

PRESS RELEASE:

"ART-RITE launch event
A discussion with Walter Robinson, Pat Steir and Robin Winters
December 10, 2019 7PM

Join us for a special event to mark the launch of Art-Rite, a new facsimile reprint collecting the full run of the landmark periodical. Art-Rite editor Walter Robinson will be joined in conversation by artists Pat Steir and Robin Winters for a conversation on artists in Soho between 1973-1978. Moderated by Carlo McCormick, with an introduction by Jeffrey Deitch.
Note that this event takes place at Jeffrey Deitch (18 Wooster Street, between Canal and Grand). Join on Facebook here.

Edited and published by Joshua Cohn, Edit DeAk, and Walter Robinson between 1973 and 1978 (Cohn would leave after issue 7), Art-Rite moved easily through the expansive community of post-conceptual, post-minimalist, performance, and video artists that made up New York’s vibrant downtown arts scene. With a sharp editorial vision, fanzine ethos, and proto-punk aesthetic, the magazine presented up-close coverage of the art world that was at once critical, humorous, and deeply knowledgeable, avoiding the formal tone and self-seriousness that characterized other art publications of the time. Over its five year run, Art-Rite would publish hundreds of interviews, exhibition and performance reviews, statements, and projects “by, with, and about” a generation of artists who felt accessible in these pages, even as many of them were, or would soon become, the defining voices of the era.

Art-Rite (2019) is co-published by Primary Information and Printed Matter, Inc."

Art Metropole Sale

Cosima von Bonin | Color Wheel

Cosima von Bonin
Color Wheel
Zurich, Switzerland: Parkett, 2008
47 x 6 cm.
Edition of 45 signed and numbered copies

Produced for Parkett 81 (below), this rolling pin as colour wheel is made of stainless steel with polypropylen handles, and is enamelled in 7 colours and released with the statement "Take the pastry of concept, roll it out with the colors of the rainbow, and serve it up with a dollop of debate."